the safest school in america. students from sandy hook elementary head back to class today. >> definitely -- definitely been like a brother to me you know. he's been bigger than football between me andly. >> he's been figger than football for the city. -- bigger than football for the city. ray lewis comes out on the field and dances possibly for the last time. he will play his final home game this weekend. that's a story you are reacting to. thank you for joining us on this thursday morning, i'm megan pringle. >> and i'm charlie crowson. the weather is painfully cold out there. >> lets see today and also lynette at some point we have to look ahead to sunday to see how the playoff game is going to be. >> exact lym going to hold you in suspense for the game but right now? it's very cold. that temperature coming in at 21 degrees and i'm saying we are in the deep freeze this morning. you definitely need to dress accordingly. dew point 14 in hereford right now and we have very dry air. also in ellicott city the temperature coming in at 24 degrees and our last stop this

morning in stevensville. 28 with that dew point of 17. so we have the clouds out there this morning. but no type of rain. no type of snow and that will be the scenario even as we go into the afternoon. now, this is what we have as you plan your day. well, we do have you breaking out the sun shades before it's all said and done. we are going to start out at 8:00 at 28 degrees. it's going to be cold and crisp on my facebook, jim says it sounds like i'm describing is pinot grigio. cold and crisp. have a great day jim. let's get a check now of the abc2 timesaver traffic with lauren cook. good morning. good morning lynette. i like pin owe grudge owe but not this kind of pinot grigio. no cig can't delays from york road to 695. as we head over to homework, you're looking at a 15 minute ride once you to get to white marsh to head downtown. as we take a look at the other

abc2 timesaver traffic drive times, no problems whatsoever on the east side it's going to take you the normal 11 minutes to travel the outer loop from 95 all the way up to 83. and the west side nice and clear. 11 minutes on the outer loop from 795 down to 95. and the inner loop will be nice and clear as you make the push up throw pikesville. you -- through pikesville. megan and charlie, over to you. heart break for a family this morning in baltimore city. we've had breaking news since last night. >> abc2 news linda so is live on the scene this morning in northeast baltimore and linda, we understand five people were able to get out of the house? >> reporter: one of those persons was a pregnant woman. she was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. we moved our location to give you a better vantage point of the house and just how intention the fire was. you can see the siding is burned the windows busted. the door is goon. two people were killed in this fire. fire investigator tells us it was two men. five people got out safely.

one of those persons a pregnant woman again she was take on the a local hospital to be evaluated. the first victim was found inside the house on the first floor. the second victim was discovered outside the basement door. we're hearing reports the victim initially got out but was trying to get back inside when he died. the fire broke out last night in the 3,000 block of montebello terrace. that's right off harford road in northeast baltimore right behind the safeway. when firefighters arrived the fire was so intense they could not get inside. a second alarm was killed and firefighters eventually made it in and discovered the body of the first victim inside. now the five people who made it out safely including that pregnant woman. they all had nonlife- threatening injuries and three were taken to a nearby hospital to be evaluated. investigators spend some time here this morning to try to determine the cause. we're waiting to hear on that. also at this point we don't know if this home had working

smoke detectors but again two men were killed in the fire that broke out last night. five people including a pregnant woman made it out safely. live in northeast baltimore, linda so, abc2 news. >> you can be the first to know about breaking news. just download abc2 news' free app by text, wmar to 46988. also this morning all new president barack obama has signed a compromise to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. it boosts taxes on the wealthiest americans while preserving tax cults for most american -- cuts for most american households. the president signed the bill using what's called an autopen. it's a mechanical device that mimics the president's signature. happening today, for the first time since the gunman opened fire at their school students from sandy hook elementary returned to class and no doubt it is going to be an emotion normal day. crews spent weeks furnishing if

new school located in a nearby town and desks from sandy hook were taken to the school along with backtracks and other things left behind after the shooting. 20 children and six dumbs were killed -- adults were killed. parents of the students are dealing with the tragedy as best they can. >> there's no real playbook for this. i don't think any of us really have a braybook and we're -- playbook and we're kind of just sensing our child and trying to meet the needs that we can and just support them as best as we possibly can because you don't want to frighten them either. >> the school has been outfitted with rugs and furniture similar to those at sandy hook to help ease the transition for students who start today. and this morning as you get your kids ready for school, safety is on your mind. well, this morning abc2 news sherrie johnson is live with how this shooting is making aridisols in our community change the -- other schools in our community change the way they operate. >> reporter: lye here at the public schools headquarters building in towson. here at baltimore county they have officers that continue to

patrol the schools. this is all part of the keep a check program at baltimore county public schools. these are for schools that don't have a school resource officer assigned directly to the school. officers are stopping by the schools during each shift to ensure difficult and make sure that every -- safety and make sure that everything is secure: the school shooting in newtown that left 26 people dead has districts on alert and in baltimore county the superintendent says there are security plans in place and dr. dallas dance says they are considering enhanced security option that is other districts are using like badge for all staff and students as well as cameras and a buzz-in policy at all doors. in howard county the superintendent there dr. foo says they are looking at security upgrades as well for their schools. her team looked at potential problems in the system identifying at least two schools that will need physical changes. now she says newtown is an important reseason to update -- reason to update safety plans and mediaries. i talked to -- procedures.

i talked to baltimore county police officers and they plant to do that until further notice. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. foul 6:07. and for 17 years he's been our leader. for 17 years, we've peered through the smoke waiting to see number 52 come roaring out of the tunnel and for 17 years, he's asked us what time it is and for 17 years we have answered game time. for 17 years, he has danced his way onto the field and now after 17 years, he is now saying it is time to call it a career. ray lewis is asking that we now save that last dance for him coming up sunday. lewis and the ravens announced yesterday that sunday will be the last time he walks through the smoke at m&t bank stadium. >> i think we all get to enjoy what sunday will feel like. you know knowing that you know, that this will be the last time 52 plays in a uniform and ravens stadium. i'm going to give you everything i got because this is our last one and wherever it ends, it ends. but i didn't come back for it to end in the first round. >> now lewis says he's retiring

to spend manier time with his family and -- more time with his family and you better believe that five years from now, go ahead and circle the calendar. canton will be receiving ray lewis as a ballot for the hall of fame. one thing that's fun for you. show off your best ray lewis dance. e-mail to that us at pix@wmar.com and also we've asked for your thoughts on the retirement and one of the flavor comments coming this morning from barbara. she wrote great player, great man, hope he stays in baltimore, we can use his spirit to help us through and keep our spirits up as well. also on twit they are morning, a number -- twitter this morning a number of o's players are planning to be at sunday's game. kickoff probably the last time we're going to see ray lewis is set for 1:00. all right, well charlie in honor of the playoff run and ray's last dance commemorative shirts are being sold right now

and they're being created by a company out of columbia at nightmare graphics and there you can take a look and see what you can buy. and speaking of a look we're going to take a live look at a picture of washington, d.c. right now. the 113th congress of the united states will be sworn in today. lawmakers will convene on cap doll hill at noon. the new congress will have 20 female senators, the most ever in u.s. history. and for the first time, there will be an all female delegation from a state, new hampshire. and tammy baldwin a democrat in wisconsin will become the nation's first openly gay senator. just ahead this morning, if there's good video out there especially of criminals caught on camera, you can rest assured you will see it here on "good morning maryland." >> something like out of a movie. take a look at this. within seconds you can see a van goes right through a gas station door and they drive off with the atm. we'll share the rest of the video with you when we come back. >> hang in there.

the house leaders are now pledging to vote on getting victims from sandy much-needed help. >> fighting a fire is bad enough. without a hydrant? nearly impossible and scary. what happened when a fire department couldn't find a working hydrant. >> and we have lots of clouds around this morning. but no rain or no snow. i'll tell you when we see the sun again and how long it will last coming up. >> well, lynette no delays here on 695 at old court road. but we have a crash on 95 in downtown baltimore. i'll have all the details coming up on "good morning maryland." ten minutes after 6:00 right now. a live picture of new york city's times square. little quiet after all the festivities that they saw earlier this week. let's head up there right now for a look at today's techbytes. >> reporter: in today's techbytes, new laws make it illegal for some employers to request facebook passwords. california and illinois have banned companies from asking employees or prospective employees for their essential noteworkings -- social

networking log ins. and apple has come up with a fix for the bug that's affecting iso 6 devices. the new feature will resume normal operations january 7th until then the company suggests that users turn the feature on or off manually. research in motion aims to put an end to spy cam style photos. they have developed technology that would require its smart phone cameras to be held still for a few seconds before they could snap photos. and samsung is generating buzz about its new line of tvs. the company claims the new devices will have unprecedented shape and design leading to speculation they could be vertal and transparent. those -- vertical and transparent. those are your techbytes, i'm rob nelson.

thanks for staying with us. the home burns as crews struggle to find a working fire hydrant. this happens on detroit's west side. the flames raced through the home while threatening an occupied house next door. the closest hydrant had a sign on it reading out of order. firefighters say threads are made of brass and the scrapers are stealing them. the scrappers rather. they had to move on to the third one. >> last couple of weeks, five, six fires on one street. hydrants not working. and when they take them so long to get here. pretty sad. >> fortunately no one was hurt in the fire and the home next door was saved with nearly no damage. so this was a situation could have been much worse megan. all right charlie now 6:14 and after facing a fire storm of criticism, house speaker john boehner is scheduled a vote for friday on a partial aid bill for victims of superstorm sandy.

now tomorrow's vote will be on $9 billion for a national flood insurance program. a second vote will be held on january 15th. on the remaining $51 billion in their package wayner promised the vote after meeting on wednesday with angry northeast lawmakers. new reaction this morning from new jersey governor chris christie. >> america question serves bet -- deserves better than just another example of a government who's forgotten who are there to serve and why. 66 days and counting. shame on congress. >> sandy killed at least 113 people in the united states. and left millions without power after pounding parts of the east coast in late october. new york and new jersey. they were hit hardest with the estimated storm damage in new york alone at almost $42 billion. people there still haven't gotten back inside their homes. >> as we were saying the congress will be sworn in today and a new speaker will be chosen on capitol hill and this is going to be